Symbolizing the guards of an evil
Annually at the end of the February there is a celebration that is worth visiting, Battle of the Oranges, held in Italian town Ivrea, everyone gathering together under fruit attack during the Battle of the Oranges. But be careful, if you decide to take a part in this event, make sure you are ready to get bruised, no one will escape untouched…Ivrea is a city near by Turin, used to be post Roman kingdom of Italy, nowadays the city enjoys its day of glory one time a year during Carnival, when a unique, exciting, anachronistic and most of all juicy orange battle takes place. How it works? The participants are divided into teams in carriages, they are riding through the town representing the emperor’s men, and those teams standing on foot represent the commoners. Consider that those are not tomatoes, we are talking about hard oranges, sp all the participants are in full costume and armed with arance.
It’s an ancient tradition that goes on every year, started in middle ages 19th century as an inspiration for a similar event, Carnevale di Ivrea use no guns and no swords, the only real weapons are oranges. Every year this little city uses more than 500.000 kilograms of fresh oranges, its all about who will put the other team down, so keep the kids inside the houses, there is no safe place on the street.
So, if you happen to be in Italy around Turin this time, pass by, that might be fun and life time experience for you. Those guys who are throwing the oranges are the bad ones, symbolizing the the guards of an evil tyrant who ruled the town in the middle ages, the duty is to fight them. In total there are nine foot teams, one from each city district. Every each of you can join in but you must pick a side and join a team…
